A two-stroke internal combustion engine having opposed pistons in a boxer-style engine is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,443. This prior art patent discloses a drive engine having two cylinders arranged one behind the other on the same axis, with each of the cylinders having an opposed piston pair. The individual pistons that move in the same direction are connected by way of a crank arm for a crankshaft, to achieve a forced guidance. Each piston pair defines a combustion chamber in the respective cylinder, so that with an alternate firing of the cylinders, the two respectively connected pistons of both piston pairs move back and forth in an opposing manner, wherein the movement energy is transferred to the crankshaft for driving purposes. Fuel is supplied by injecting it into the combustion chamber when both pistons of a respective piston pair are in the upper dead center position. The operation and control of an internal combustion engine of this type is standard, with self-ignition being the preferred method for starting the engine.
With the engine disclosed in the '443 patent, a predefined compression ratio is maintained in each case due to the forced guidance of the piston movement via the crankshaft, so that the operating parameters required for the self-ignition method, such as compression, temperature, type of fuel, and manner in which the fuel is injected, are fixed for all practical purposes. In addition, a high-pressure injection device must be provided for the fuel supply since the fuel is injected in the respective cylinder when the pistons are in the upper dead center position.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an internal combustion engine that offers a broad application range along with stable operation.